Classic Chevrolet Novas

The classic Chevy Nova began simply as the Chevy II. Chevrolet began working on a more conventional compact car after the rear-engine Chevy Corvair was outsold by the Ford Falcon in 1960. The car was of semi-unibody construction having a bolt on front section joined to its unitized cabin and trunk rear section, available in two-door coupe and four-door sedan configurations as well as convertible and station wagon versions. In 1962 and 1963 the Nova option for the Chevy II was available in a convertible body style, and a two-door hardtop was available from 1962 to 1965, although the hardtop was dropped when the 1964 models were first introduced, but subsequently brought back to the line later in the model year. Like all Chevy two-door hardtops, the body style was marketed as the Sport Coupe.

1966 brought on the second generation of the Chevy II, which had undergone a complete restyle. The new look was sharp-edged based in part on the Super Nova concept Car. Proportions were squared up, but the actual dimensions and features saw few changes. Highlights included a bold grille and semi-fastback roofline. "Humped" fenders in an angular rear end were reminiscent of larger 1966 Chevrolets, though the 1966 Chevy II and Nova had vertical taillights and single headlights. The lineup again started with Chevy II 100 and Chevy II Nova 400 models.

The ’66 Chevy II sales brochure clearly promoted the Super Sport as the “Chevrolet Chevy II Nova Super Sport,” but the name "Nova" was not used anywhere on the body. Front and rear emblems displayed "Chevy II SS."In 1967, Chevy II was still the name of the vehicle, but the Nova SS option package replaced all Chevy II badging with Nova SS badging.

Another restyle came about in 1968. The station wagon and hardtop sport coupe were discontinued, the former in line with an industry trend which left AMC the only American maker of compact station wagons for awhile. One notable change was the front subframe assembly — as compared with Ford, Chrysler and AMC, in whose cars the entire front suspension was integrated with the bodyshell, a separate subframe housing the powertrain and front suspension replaced the earlier style. Although the front subframe design was unique for the Nova, the Camaro introduced a year earlier was the first to incorporate such a design; the redesigned Nova was pushed a year ahead to 1968 instead of 1969. The sales brochure claimed 15 powertrain choices for coupes and a dozen for sedans. Options included power brakes and steering, Four-Season or Comfort-Car air conditioning, rear shoulder belts, and head restraints. There were a few Chevrolet Novas built with the 194 ci (3.1 L), the same motor that had been used in the previous generations of the Chevy II.

In 1969 Chevrolet dropped the Chevy II portion of its compact car's name; it was now known simply as the Chevrolet Nova. The "Chevy II by Chevrolet" trunklid badge was replaced with "Nova by Chevrolet" and the "Chevy II" badge above the grille was replaced with the bowtie emblem and the ’69 model was promoted under the Nova model name in Chevrolet sales literature. Chevrolet continued to produce the Nova through the 1988 model year.